Legendary writer-director John Hughes was responsible for a string of iconic teen films from the 1980s onward. And yet without the characters feeling like real teenagers (with Cameron Frye in particular, to the fore), the films wouldn’t work. The audiences wouldn’t care. People still argue that in PRETTY IN PINK

BACK TO THE FUTURE Video Essay Not content with dominating blockbuster filmmaking as a director, the ’80s saw Steven Spielberg become a producing powerhouse. He brought his Amblin touch to the generation-defining likes of GREMLINS, POLTERGEIST, THE GOONIES and also BACK TO THE FUTURE. After several box office failures,

PADDINGTON 2 video essay PADDINGTON was that rare, quintessentially British film that found success around the globe. So there was little surprise when the studio confirmed PADDINGTON 2. Paul King returned to direct. David Heyman (of HARRY POTTER fame) returned to produce, through Heyday Films and StudioCanal UK. Paul King

THE SOCIAL NETWORK They’re making a film about Facebook? Commentators greeted news of the project with scepticism. But with a tight script from Aaron Sorkin (THE WEST WING) and clinical direction from David Fincher (GONE GIRL), THE SOCIAL NETWORK has proved to be one of the modern era’s best –

CRAZY RICH ASIANS Video Essay CRAZY RICH ASIANS is the smash hit that proves that, contrary to recent reports, the rom-com isn’t dead. Rachel (Constance Wu) is an economics professor in New York. When her boyfriend Nick (Henry Golding) asks her to join him in Singapore for his friend’s wedding,

THE HAUNTING OF HILL HOUSE THE HAUNTING OF HILL HOUSE is a Netflix miniseries loosely adapted from the book by Shirley Jackson. It was created by horror maestro Mike Flanagan (OCULUS, GERALD’S GAME), who also directed every episode. It revolves around the Crain family who, as children, lived in a haunted

CATASTROPHE CATASTROPHE is a Channel 4 and Amazon Prime show. It’s created by, written by, and stars American comedian Rob Delaney and Irish writer-actress Sharon Horgan. It was nominated for a Peabody Award and Delaney and Horgan won a BAFTA for Best Writer: Comedy. The first episode of CATASTROPHE opens

DRIVE Video Essay The crime drama DRIVE, with a screenplay by Hossein Amini adapted from a James Sallis novel, established Ryan Gosling as a bona fide star. Made on an indie budget, it went on to become a hit with audiences and critics worldwide and for a few years the

Gus Fring BREAKING BAD, created by Vince Gilligan, introduced us to many great characters. Antihero Walter White (Brian Cranston), the cancer-diagnosed high school teacher who turns to making meth. Jesse Pinkman (Aaron Paul), his young sidekick, who was originally intended to die early on but proved a favourite. Hank Schrader

LA CONFIDENTIAL LA CONFIDENTIAL put a modern spin on the hard-boiled noir, reinvigorating the genre and leading to an Oscar win for Brian Helgeland and Curtis Hanson for Best Adapted Screenplay. The world they create on screen is partly familiar – Hollywood of the 1950s. But the story mostly takes